Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote

Cloth Seal, French, Hondschoote, Image & Found by Redgy Dewulf.
Found at or near Hondschoote in maritime Flanders, 17mm.

The arms of Hondschoote, a shield bearing Ermine, on a bend 3 escallops, three secondary ermine stamps // missing (double rivet) cloth weave imprint on reverse of rivet disc

The rivet disc from a Hondschoote cloth seal. See BSG.CS.01806 for another Hondschoote cloth seal with a secondary stamp employing the escallop rather than the ermine from the arms.

A complete example BSG.CS.01038 shows yet another different secondary stamp on it.

"Before 1659, Hondschoote was part of the Spanish Netherlands. A thriving wealthy cloth-town, it had thousands of small workshops making serge cloth from locally-grown flax. Events such as Beeldenstorm, conquest by France and the War of the Spanish Succession, however, brought an end to prosperity. The cloth-makers fled to what is now Belgium and England, taking their skills to benefit France's rivals." Wikipedia.